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Saturday, 27 September 2014

Book Hangover Recommendations Part 1

Hello dear book friends! Today I will be writing up a post that I know I would find very helpful, so I hope you guys do too! I will be suggesting books you can read if you are in a book hangover.

For those who do not know, here is the Urban Dictionary (yep, the epitome of all sustainable knowledge) definition of "book hangover"-

"When you've finished a book and you suddenly return to the real world, but the real world feels incomplete or surreal because you're still living in the world of the book."

Basically, a book hangover is when you've read a really, really good book and you cannot move on or concentrate on any other book because they just aren't as good as the last book you read. I find it really difficult to get back into other book when I'm having a book hangover, and since I get them quite frequently, I've had to learn what books to choose to help me get over them.

So here are my top five books to help you get through your book hangover!

1. Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Okay, so as you probably know, I love Stephanie Perkins and her books for me are just a fluffy cushion to fall back on when I'm sad or angry or tired of reading bad contempories. Anna and the French Kiss (review here) is about a girl who lives in America whose parents send her off to Paris for boarding school. The book is all about how she adjusts and is focused around a love story. Lola and the Boy Next Door (review here) is about a girl whose dream is to be a fashion designer. Everything in her life is pretty perfect until the Bell twins return to town- one being her worst enemy, and the other being her first heartbreak. These books are perfectly lovely and always lift my spirits, so they're perfect for book hangovers. 5/5 stars for effectiveness, 5/5 for quality.2. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
I don't think I talk enough about how much I love this book and series. It's probably one of my favourite books and it was the book that got me into psych thriller. It is about a girl suffering from PTSD and weird things start happening… I don't want to explain too much, as it will ruin it, however I can say that it is so easy to read, even if it sounds heavy, you just get absorbed so fast. It's a bit dark and scary, actually, it's quite dark and scary, so it's probably not for the light-hearted, but it is very effective in eradicating book hangovers. 4.5/5 stars for effectiveness, 5/5 for quality.

3. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Rainbow Rowell's characters are very real and wonderful, which makes them so easy to read and relate to, at least for me. Fangirl is about a girl obsessed with the equivalent of Harry Potter in their world, called Simon Snow. She writes fanfic, draws fanart and is an avid member of the fandom (see why I could relate to her?). But as she goes to college, she must deal with new relationships, as well as her crumbling relationship with her twin, and juggle all that around writing her fanfiction. The book is very, very good and I really liked it. Once you get about two, maybe three chapters in, you start to really, really enjoy it, and you will easily be lifted out of your book hangover.4.5/5 for effectiveness, 5/5 for quality.

told you it was beautiful.

4. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner
Not only is this the prettiest book cover I've ever seen (no exaggeration, it's my favourite book cover ever), it actually had a really good story to match! This book is sort of Titanic in Space, and the story starts when two people who probably would never have ended up in the same room get stranded on a foreign planet together. Their mission? To escape the planet without anything killing them- including each other. But whilst stuck on the planet with possibly no hope of getting off, the two find what they do not expect. This book was just so easy to read, I'm pretty sure I smashed through in something like four hours, including breaks. It's easy to get into and easy to read, and should absolutely help with book hangovers. 5/5 for effectiveness, 4.5/5 for quality.5. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
This book isn't so great quality wise, but if you've just spent weeks reading an epic-fantasy series (The Mortal Instruments, Vampire Academy, etc) and you're in need of something super easy and even a little cheesy, then this is your book! Yep, this book is about angels. That's all I'm going to say, because otherwise you'll probably guess the whole plot. But it's not a bad read, it's fun and easy, and, much like The Beautiful Dead series, it's great for if you don't know what you want to read in a book hangover.5/5 for effectiveness, 3/5 for quality.

Now that you've got a few books to start you off, it's time I gave you some rules as to how to pick a book for when you're suffering a book hangover. But unfortunately, because this post is already pretty long, I'll put it up next week, as a part 2, instead of a recommendation. If you're interested in seeing the "Rules for Choosing Books to Cure Book Hangovers" post, leave a comment, send a tweet or contact me in some way and I shall make sure you are notified when it is posted. Additionally, I will be letting everyone know when it's posted on my tumblr (sherlockcrumpets.tumblr.com) and via my twitter (@lilypherondale), so you can check there too.